I’ve stayed away from the whole Elizabeth-Warren-is-a-Cherokee issue because, let’s face it: its way more fun to watch other people dig their own grave than to stand over them laughing.
Wait, no. That’s not it. It is actually more fun to stand over them laughing. Why have I been avoiding this issue? Is it because, not being 1/32 Cherokee or possessing the high-cheekbones common to Native Americans, I couldn’t sympathize with the need to exploit university “diversity” hiring programs for my own benefit? Is it because I simply have no way of understanding the horrors that Elizbeth Warren’s ancestors endured at the hands of…er…her ancestors?
Perhaps I just haven’t been exposed to the unique culinary heritage that accompanies such a profound legacy. Thank goodness Elizabeth Warren is there to help.
Warren, who has been under fire for claiming Indian lineage despite a lack of documentation, is identified as “Elizabeth Warren, Cherokee” under each of five recipes she contributes in the cookbook, published in 1984 by the Five Civilized Tribes Museum located in Muskogee. Warren is not listed as an official member of the Cherokee tribe and she has been unable thus far to document her claim of any Native American heritage.
She offered a recipe on herbed tomatoes, touting them as a “great accompaniment to a plain meat and potatoes meal!” She also included a crab with tomato mayonnaise dressing dish and a Mexican oatmeal soup that included oats, onions, tomatoes and chicken broth…
To quote Jonah Goldberg, nothing says “Oklahoma Cherokee” like crab and mayonnaise. Or, for that matter the Cherokee recipes that call for that traditional Native American ingredient, Velveeta. Or bologna. And I’m not really sure how Oriental Beef Stir Fry upholds the proud tradition of the peoples who lived off the land in America.
But Ms. Warren is, of course, only 1/32 Native American, so if the recipes in the book are also 1/32 Native American, it goes without saying that she’s only following the directives of her ancestry. Diversity, people. Or maybe history is all wrong and when the American pioneers encountered tribes hostile at having their ancestral lands usurped by white people with no claim and no idea what they were doing, they were really just mad because the settlers weren’t available for brunch.
Also, Cherokees don’t have Pow-Wows according to Cherokees. But white people relying on outdated stereotypes about Native American culture while simultaneously trying to exploit it to win points in an Ivy League hiring process has absolutely no metaphorical connection to the historical treatment of native peoples. At least when progressives do it.
Wow, going back that far to take a swipe at someone, that is sort of like pointing out that somebody was a horrendous bully in prep school and perhaps homophobic. Well, not really, one has real consequences and one causes unpleasant gas. I will take the Velveeta any day.
The stuff’s kinda lame. But it IS funny. Actually, what’s even funnier is that Harvard thought it could totally pass of a white lady as its “diversity hire.”
Yeah, and making up lies about Native American heritage is sort of like making up lies about bullying a gay kid whose family claims it never happened and the kid wasn’t gay.
My mother’s father always claimed to be of Choctaw Indian descent.(He also claimed to be related to the French pirate Jean Lafitte. My family is interesting). To back up his claim, he highlighted his high cheekbones, dark complexion and hook nose (sound like anyone else?). I’m fairly certain he claimed Native American ancestry when he enrolled at LSU in the early 50s.
When my mom did an extensive genealogy study on her family, she found ZERO evidence of any Native Americans. What she did find was an almost pure-blood French ancestry going back 400 years. Freakishly so, actually. We were baffled. How did you explain the hook nose and high cheekbones that are so often attributed to Native American genetics.
On a research trip to the state archives in Louisiana, we encountered a bust of the Marquis de Lafayette. We looked at it in shock. The Revolutionary War hero had high cheekbones and a hook nose. If you had taken off the long wig and put him in modern clothes, he looked a lot like my grandfather. Amazing how some other ethnic groups also have high cheekbones, isn’t it?
Had I known that family lore was enough to get hired at Harvard, I would have conveniently forgotten this experience. Combined with the fact that I’m also a legally declared ethnic minority because of my Cajun heritage, Harvard could have really used me. Maybe I should have stayed in pre-law as an undergrad?